Efforts to create ecotourism and protect two monkey species in West Africa are the subject of Dr. Robert Schubert’s STEM Seminar Series lecture.

Clark College is inviting the public to come back to school for a series of free lunchtime seminars that explore the lighter side of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Begun in 2015, the Clark College STEM Seminar Series launches its 2018 Winter season with yet more fun, informative presentations geared toward anyone with an interest in science—no Ph.D. required!

The winter quarter events in this series include:

• January 19: The Aka and Bofi Foragers of the Central African Republic with Dr. Jay Fancher, Clark College anthropology faculty. Join Dr. Fancher as he recounts tales of his doctoral field research with the Aka and Bofi foragers of the Central African Republic. Learn how studying—and sharing—their meals helps researchers better understand archaeological findings from the area.
• February 16: Human Culture and Primate Conservation with Dr. Robert Schubert, Clark College anthropology faculty. When balancing modernization with protecting wild species, creating local control of conservation efforts is crucial to their success. Dr. Schubert shares stories of how local beliefs help preserve two West African primate species and of the challenges posed in developing successful ecotourism initiatives.
• March 9: It’s All About Mud! with David Kluesner, geologist and Florida Gulf Coast University faculty. When oil and other pollutants spill into water, how can scientists predict where they’ll wind up? With more than three decades of experience in the field, this geologist shares his study of pollutants in the mud of a Florida estuary—and what that mud can tell us about how to track and contain future spills.

All events are held on Fridays from noon to 1 p.m. in the STEM Building room 151 on Clark’s main campus. All are open to the public. Light snacks will be available and guests are welcome to bring their own lunches with them.

Clark College is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver. Driving directions and parking maps are available at www.clark.edu/maps. Anyone needing accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services Office at (360) 992-2314 or (360) 991-0901 (VP), or visit Penguin Union Building room 013, as soon as possible.

This article was contributed by STEM Outreach Program Coordinator Nadia Kluesner.

Photo courtesy of Dr. Robert Schubert.

The 2017 Clark College Women’s Soccer team

With its 2-0 road victory over Southwestern Oregon this past Saturday, Clark College Women’s Soccer clinched the Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC) South Region title.

Led by Head Coach Sean Jansen–who received a Presidential Coin in September for his service to the college–the team has racked up some impressive statistics.The Penguins have scored 45 goals and allowed only 4–the biggest spread in the South. Penguins stat leaders include Facienne Graham with 10 goals, Sarah Teubner with 9 assists, and goalkeeper Maggie Higgins with 38 saves. The Penguins have a South Region best 9-0-1 conference record. The Penguins have 28 points in the region standings with two matches to play. They will be the No. 1 seed from the region and receive a first-round bye in the NWAC playoffs. Clark will host the first round of playoffs on Nov. 4 against a team yet to be determined.

The Penguins finish out their conference schedule at home, taking on Portland Community College at home on Saturday, October 21, at Kim Christensen Field, followed by playing Rogue Community College on Wednesday, October 25.

In other sports news from the weekend:

Men’s Soccer

The Penguins beat Southwestern Oregon 3-0 at Coos Bay.

Eric Hernandez, David Garnica and Mark Fabyanchuk scored goals. Nick Henry assisted on Hernandez’s goal, and Chikuru Balekeassisted on the other two.

Joseph Miguel Martin recorded the shutout in goal.

Clark (4-6-1, 4-3-1) is in second place in the South Region with 13 points, two in front of Portland. Clark and Portland meet next Saturday at Vancouver.

Volleyball

Clark rolled past Southwestern Oregon with a 3-0 win at the O’Connell Center. Scores were 25-18, 25-11, 25-14.

Madison Swanson had six kills, Dalaney Tuholski had five kills, Mary Schorn had 12 digs, and Megan Hess had 12 assists.

Clark (22-4, 7-2) is third in the NWAC South, one game behind Linn-Benton and Chemeketa, which are tied for first at 8-1.

Next for Clark is a crossover tournament at Aberdeen next weekend.

Cross Country

The Clark women placed fifth out of nine teams at the George Fox Classic, held at Willamette Mission State Park in Gervais, Ore. The Clark men were seventh out of 11 teams.

Battle Ground High grad Lizzye Ribalka was the top women’s finisher for the Penguins. She was 20th out of 90 runners in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 19:40.8.

Ridgefield High grad Sam Andersen was the top men’s placer for the Penguins. He was 31st out of 123 runners on the 8K course with a time of 26:34.0.

Athletics intern Davis Young contributed to this article. Photo: Clark College Athletics.

Math professor John Mitchell discussed the role of mindfulness in education at the Faculty Speaker Series.

On May 3, mathematics professor John Mitchell brought his message of mindfulness–the simple practice of being aware of one’s present-moment experience—to the spring installment of the Faculty Speaker Series.

Mitchell said his goal was to inspire the audience “to be part of something that I feel everyone should know about” as he described the modern history of an ancient practice, his path to discovering it, and his passion for bringing mindfulness to Clark College.

As Mitchell described it, mindfulness is simple, but not easy. It requires training and repetition to notice when one is lost in their inner dialog and to return to their present-moment experience.

Mitchell noted that mindfulness has been practiced in many cultures throughout history. “This is a universal human skill,” he said, “we all have the innate ability to be mindful, as well as the tendency to get lost in thought.” He explained that mindfulness does not attempt to eliminate thoughts, but simply to notice them. It also includes awareness of one’s emotional state and the physical sensations of the moment.

Mitchell emphasized the importance of using mindfulness in the face of technologies that are designed to distract. According to the Neilson Total Audience Report, adults use their electronic devices more than ten hours a day on average; for teens, the average is nine hours, according to a 2015 media census by the nonprofit Common Sense Media. That being the case, said Mitchell, there is an immediate need to address the impact that technology has on our society.

Mindfulness, Mitchell said, can aid people in avoiding a combination of information overload and distraction. Mitchell said many people find themselves in what behavioral scientists call a “ludic loop,” a mental zone that takes a person out of present-based awareness and into a disconnected mindless state where addictive behaviors thrive. Mitchell said that mindfulness practices, like becoming aware of the breath and body, can help one to avoid ludic loops while also encouraging better moderation in the use of technology.

Another area that Mitchell stressed in his presentation is the importance of mindfulness in education. Research on the benefits of mindfulness in education is growing, producing 700 published papers last year alone. In K-12 education and among four-year colleges and universities, mindfulness groups are becoming more and more prevalent. One mindfulness training program that is commonly used in higher education is Koru Mindfulness. Mitchell, who is a certified teacher in the method, was surprised to find out that very few community colleges were represented in the Koru community. With the mindfulness classes that Mitchell offers through Clark’s Economic and Community Development program, Clark College is one of the few exceptions.

The Clark College Mindfulness Club is another marker of Clark College’s lead on mindfulness in community colleges. Mitchell thanked the two students in the audience who have contributed to that distinction, Clark Mindfulness Club co-facilitators Nova Gump and Steven Mitchell (no relation). Steven Mitchell founded the club in the spring of 2016; John Mitchell called it a “foundational ingredient of a mindful college.”

Along with clubs and classes, Mitchell would like to see mindfulness introduced in College 101 classes and generally incorporated into the teaching methods of faculty. Moreover, he sees a strong connection between a mindful environment and guiding the work of the college to achieve initiatives such as Guided Pathways.

“What does a mindful community college look like?” John Mitchell asked the audience. “I want Clark to be answering that for other community colleges. That’s my vision: a mindful college, a college that’s seen as a leader.”

If you are interested in learning more about mindfulness at Clark College, contact the Mindfulness Club at clarkmindfulness@gmail.com or John Mitchell at jmitchell@clark.edu.

About the Faculty Speaker Series

Since 2008, the Faculty Speaker Series has showcased experiences that have enriched both the lives and teaching of Clark’s faculty. Speakers share their professional development accomplishments with the college community, often addressing some of today’s most intriguing issues. Clark faculty members are invited to present experiences including sabbatical, research, field work, or community outreach in a variety of formats including panel discussions, interactive workshops, and/or demonstrations.

Photos: Nick Bremer

J. Nova Gump contributed to this article.

Students competing at the 2017 Southwest Washington Regional Science Olympiad.

Burning marshmallows, miniature hovercrafts, robotic arms, and the perennial favorite, bottle rockets, were a just a few of the 48 activities featured at this year’s Southwest Regional Science Olympiad Tournament, which took place at Clark College on Saturday, March 4.

Mid-experiment at the Science Olympiad.

More than 350 young scientists from 20 middle-school and 18 high-school teams competed in the Olympiad, coming from as far north as La Push, Washington, and as far south as Corvallis, Oregon. Winning teams from the regional competition earned spots in the Washington State Science Olympiad, which will take place at Highline College in Des Moines, Washington, on April 15.

Science Olympiad is a national nonprofit organization that encourages a love of science through educational opportunities, hands-on activities, and regional, state, and national tournaments.

STEM Coordinator Erin Harwood, who oversaw the planning and logistics for the tournament, said she was very pleased with the outcome of the event.

“We’ve had a four-year break from hosting any Science Olympiad event this large, and it’s been a very long time since we hosted a regional event, so this was a nice change and a great way to get back to hosting again,” she said. “It was really amazing how many students volunteered, and the faculty and staff–even the Dean!–got in on helping out.”

Clark students volunteered to help make the Olympiad possible.

More than 130 volunteers—most of them Clark College students, employees, and alumni—helped make the event possible.

At the end of the day, the school teams, event volunteers, and others who participated in the tournament gathered in the O’Connell Sports Complex gymnasium for an awards ceremony filled with energy and enthusiasm. Students from the Quileute Tribal School, whose team had traveled the farthest to participate in the Olympiad, shared a song and words of encouragement with the other attendees before the awards were announced. Eleven teams, five from middle schools and six from high schools, will be continuing on to the state tournament. Camas schools will represent a full five of those eleven teams moving on to the state level.

The following teams will be advancing to the Washington state competition:

B DIVISION (MIDDLE SCHOOL)

• 1^ST PLACE: Skyridge (Blue Team)
• 2^ND PLACE: Liberty (Black Team)
• 3^RD PLACE: Skyridge (Green Team)
• 4^TH PLACE: Jason Lee (Red Team)
• 5^TH PLACE: ExCEL

C DIVISION  (HIGH SCHOOL)

• 1^ST PLACE: Camas (Black Team)
• 2^ND PLACE: Camas (Red Team)
• 3^RD PLACE: Woodinville
• 4^TH PLACE: Union (Black Team)
• 5^TH PLACE: Skyline
• 6^TH PLACE: Washougal (Black Team)

For more photos of the event, visit our Flickr album.

Article contributed by Nova Gump

Photos: Clark College/Nova Gump

Haley Tucker

Thirty-Eighty Penguins got up and moving during the month of October for the second Walktober Challenge against the WSU Vancouver Cougars and the Lower Columbia College Red Devils. Collectively, Clark logged in 12,412,963 steps — earning second place in the college challenge. Way to go, Penguins!

The top three participants at Clark were:

• 1st Place: Haley Tucker 1,019,955 steps
• 2nd Place: Garrett Hoyt 953,790 steps
• 3rd Place: Travis Kibota 673,157 steps

Article and photos submitted by Vanessa Neal.

Clark staff, faculty, and students participated in a special Veterans Day photo on Nov. 10, 2016.

The Veterans Resource Center would like to thank everyone who participated in our Veterans Day photo on November 10. As you can see from the image, it was a huge success. We hope to grow this annual celebration so veterans in our community know how much we appreciate their service. Thank you for all you do for our veteran community.

This photo and article submitted by Kelly Jones.

For the 13th year in a row, Clark College employees donated backpacks and supplies to 52 school-aged children of Clark College students.

Names of children are gathered and referred by Workforce Education Services, Financial Aid, Veterans Affairs, Child & Family Services, and the Diversity Center. Each child is asked their favorite color and characters so the donors can find a backpack that is specific to that child.

This year, the Backpack Project provided 55 backpacks, adding to the grand total so far of over 730 backpacks collected throughout the years – thank you!

Here are some expressions of thanks from students and their children after receiving their backpack:

“Just wanted to say THANK YOU!!!! for all you have done for me through my college life, along with helping me with school supplies and a backpack for my son for the last two years also. It helped us out so very much, I am off to my new educated life. Thank You All, You Will Be Missed.”

“Thank you for the backpacks. I loooooove them I can’t wait to go back to school.”

“Thank you for your kindness and for the school supplies. I hope that everyone that goes to school in Clark College does really good.”

This article was contributed by Cindy Heck

Photos: Clark College/Cindy Heck

Judy Starr, director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Clark College Foundation, center, receives a check from David Reiter, senior vice president and private client manager for Bank of America, and Jessica Hewitt, vice president of Enterprise Business & Community Engagement for Bank of America.

The Bank of America Charitable Foundation recently awarded Clark College a $20,000 grant to support a full-time financial literacy coach at Clark College. The coach works directly with students to help them stabilize their finances and increase the likelihood of students meeting their economic, educational, and career goals.

The grant, delivered to Clark College Foundation, provides ongoing support within Clark College’s Career Services department for students. Assuring that a full-time financial coach remains on staff allows the college to continue providing workshops, classroom presentations, and individual sessions focusing on how to budget, balance a checkbook, set long-term financial goals, and understand credit cards, credit scores and loan repayments.

“The full-time coach has been highly valuable for our students,” said Lisa Gibert, president and CEO of Clark College Foundation. “The coach assisted 64 students in one-on-one sessions over a seven-month period, held 27 different budgeting workshops for scores of other students and conducted specialty workshops for the Veterans Resource Center and the Pathways Center.”

Jamie Madison was one of those students. She was ready to graduate from Clark’s nursing program in 2015 when unforeseen circumstances led her to withdraw. When she was contemplating a return, she was unsure if she had the resources to do so. She met with Clark’s financial literacy coach, Craig Ebersole, who helped her outline her personal finances and discover ways to limit her spending and create a budget.

“I am now confident with my finances and proactively use the resources I have learned about,” said Madison, who returned to Clark to finish her degree. “These resources help me through college and prepare me for my career after graduation.”

Approximately 54 percent of Clark students come from families living below the poverty level, and 60 percent are unemployed or receive public assistance. Moreover, nearly three-quarters of Clark students are the first generation in their families to attend college.

“Bank of America understands that financial fluency and empowerment are key drivers for future financial mobility and success,” said David K. Reiter, senior vice president at U.S. Trust Bank of America Private Wealth Management in Vancouver. “That is why we are proud to support Clark College Foundation on this important decision to retain a financial coach. When individuals feel financially secure and are able to achieve their financial goals, communities are made stronger and we all benefit.”

A budgeting course delivered by the financial literacy coach was added to the College 101: College Essentials course last year. All students working toward an Associate of Arts degree are required to complete the course, which introduces students to campus resources, such as campus navigation, technology, tutoring support, and financial aid.

Text and photo provided by the Clark College Foundation. 

It’s that time of year again: Preparation is underway to celebrate the achievements of the Class of 2016 at this year’s Commencement Ceremony on June 16, and the college needs volunteers to make the event successful for our graduates. There are a variety of opportunities for the college community to get involved, ranging from assisting with the distribution of the faculty and staff caps and gowns to helping at the graduation ceremonies.

The college invites you to participate in these activities as we celebrate the excitement of our students and honor their academic success. Supervisors are encouraged to work with employees on their schedules to allow participation. The time commitment will vary depending on the job you sign up for; the maximum time commitment will be 1 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 16. Additionally, there will be a one-hour training session for all volunteers on Tuesday, June 7, 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. in GHL 205.

We will be holding the graduation ceremony, which includes GED and High School Diploma graduates as well as our degree-earning graduates, at The Sunlight Supply Amphitheater at 7 p.m. This is a very large facility that requires the assistance of several staff helping to direct guests and ensure a successful event.

For those who are unable to participate in the ceremony, please consider participating in the faculty and staff cap-and-gown distribution process. The time commitment is for one-hour blocks on Wednesday, June 8.

Anyone interested in volunteering should email Michelle Golder as soon as possible. Please consider offering your time to this worthwhile event.

Clark College’s Jazz Ensemble performing at the 2016 University of Northern Colorado/Greeley Jazz Festival.

For the third time, the Clark College Jazz Ensemble distinguished themselves among the other colleges and universities representing seven states at the 2016 University of Northern Colorado/Greeley Jazz Festival, held April 21 through 23. This year, eight Clark College Jazz Ensemble students received Special Citation for Outstanding Musicianship awards, recognized from the 8,000 festival participants. The Clark students who received awards were:

• Mattias Tyni – trumpet
• Keith Cheek – tenor saxophone
• Anna James – tenor saxophone
• James Powers – trombone
• Jenny Baird – trombone
• Hayden Lilak – bass
• Josh Gonzales – drums
• Sam Niborg – drums

Clark students James Powers and Keith Cheek with John Clayton, bassist and leader of the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra.

In addition to performing for adjudication and clinic from internationally recognized jazz educators, Clark students also had the opportunity to listen to performances, workshops, and panel discussions presented by luminaries in the field of jazz including the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Houston Person, Joey DeFrancesco, and Ellis Marsalis.

“The experience of visiting the Greeley Jazz Festival this year was exhilarating,” said Clark student James Powers. “It has been said that it can be disappointing to meet one’s heroes, but I can say that that is not always the case. When speaking with some of the learned men of music, I was greeted with humility and kindness. Just as important as the uplifting musical performances, was the realization that these performers were all just regular people who have just practiced more than I have. Overall I would say that as a result of attending the festivities, I have come to several inspiring and informative conclusions about the nature of my craft, and I believe the same can said for my fellow band members.”

Members of the Clark Jazz Ensemble saxophone pose with iconic saxophonist Houston Person.

Jazz Ensemble Director and music professor Rich Inouye said he could not have been more proud of the band’s performance at the festival.  “Many times you work so hard for something like this and when you perform, little mistakes pop up here and there, but this year’s performance at the festival was pure perfection,” he said. “I hope the Clark College community recognizes the work our band students put in to help Clark achieve this distinction. People in the audience shared with me how surprised they were when they found out we were a two-year college! It’s good that the Music Department can represent Clark’s academic distinction at the national level along with programs such as STEM, Speech and Debate, and Journalism.”

UPDATE: Recently, Powers has learned that he has even more reason to be exhilarated: He has been awarded the Festival’s highest award, a tuition scholarship to attend the world-famous Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshop at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. Powers was recognized as one out of only four recipients to receive this prestigious award from the 8,000 participants who performed at the national jazz festival. Powers is currently a resident of Gresham, Oregon and he graduated from Heritage High in Vancouver; he plans to complete a transfer degree with a major in music this spring. This award is a first for the Clark Music Department.

The Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshop is recognized as being one of the best intensive programs for mastering jazz improvisation.  The festival features the nation’s leading jazz educators and performers and is dedicated to providing an intensive learning experience for musicians of all ages and levels. Theory Classes, Ear Training, Combo Performance, and Master Class Sessions allow the opportunity for attendees to grow and develop to their fullest potential, and each evening attendees get to listen to faculty jazz recitals presented by some of the leading jazz musicians from around the world.

Photos: Richard Inouye

This story was contributed by the Music Department.